FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT EARNEST BYNER - PAGE 4

For several seconds Sunday afternoon, it appeared the New York Giants' mastery of the Washington Redskins was about to end. The Redskins had momentum, time on their side and the usually sure-handed Earnest Byner open in the end zone. But Stan Humphries' pass bounced off Byner's pads and was intercepted in the end zone with 6:51 to play, cornerback Everson Walls returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown with 4:34 to go, and the Redskins found another way to lose to their NFC East rival.

Three weeks ago running back Earnest Byner approached Coach Joe Gibbs and asked to be the main man in the Washington Redskins' sagging offense. Three victories and 427 rushing yards later, Byner and the Redskins are going to the National Football League playoffs for the first time since winning the Super Bowl following the 1987 season. Byner, who carried the ball a career-high 39 times Saturday, rushed for 149 yards to spark the Redskins to a methodical 25-10 victory over the New England Patriots on a cold, windy and rainy day at Foxboro Stadium.

Let's see, the last time we saw the Washington Redskins in a regular-season game before Monday night's loss to the New York Giants was on Dec. 17, 1988. On that day, the third most-butterfingered team in the National Football League bumbled its way to a 20-17 loss in Cincinnati. After that game, everyone knew Coach Joe Gibbs was going to change things before the 1989 season. He was going to get a big back to revive the 25th-ranked running game, get away from living and dying with inexperienced passers, and try to stop averaging three turnovers per game.

Ralph Tamm made a bad snap, Todd Bowles missed a block, and punter Richard Tuten of the Washington Redskins had a punt blocked by the Miami Dolphins and returned for a touchdown Friday night. Coaches hate these kind of breakdowns and, had it been a regular season game, Tamm and Bowles would have received an earful when they reached the sideline. But special teams coach Wayne Sevier did the unexpected. He took the two players aside and said things designed to revive their sagging spirits.

Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent should just cancel the remainder of the World Series and award the championship to the Oakland Athletics. Tuesday night's earthquake turned San Francisco and Oakland into disaster areas. Baseball games have no place in such a setting. I've heard it said that what happened in Northern California should not hold sway over the World Series, an event of such national interest. That any number of neutral stadia can be rented so the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's can get back to playing ball.

Many NFL training camps have a story like this one around this time of the summer. A story about fresh legs and breakaway speed, about a player who has looked so good that he looks like an immediate home-run threat and may have the potential to add another dimension to almost any offense. The Washington Redskins have one of these stories - Ricky Ervins, a former Southern California tailback who was the 76th player and eighth running back taken in this spring's draft. He has made big plays out of small ones, has shown the quickness to slip through wedge blocks for big gains and has almost everyone in the organization excited.

The longer Washington's Mark Adickes went at it, the more he realized he was part of history of two sorts. One part was the Redskins' 16-13 overtime victory against Houston on Sunday. The other part dealt with that Adickes was playing at all. At 9-0, the Redskins are off to their best start ever and looking more and more like a sure bet for the Super Bowl. Super Bowl seasons are built on luck as much as pluck. The Redskins are lucky. With four seconds remaining, Houston's Ian Howfield missed a 33-yard field-goal attempt.

The four-receiver, hurry-up offense wasn't really in the Washington Redskins' game plan Sunday afternoon. It was in a glass case with a "Use Only In Emergency" tag stamped on it. With 5:17 remaining in the game and the Redskins locked in a bitter 27-27 standoff with the Cincinnati Bengals, Coach Joe Gibbs broke the glass. He spread four receivers across the line of scrimmage, quarterback Mark Rypien called six consecutive running plays against a defense thinking pass, and Gerald Riggs capped a 53-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run for a 34-27 victory.

The Washington Redskins took on their fans and the Denver Broncos Monday night at RFK Stadium and came away with two victories. The boos that greeted quarterback Mark Rypien, the goat of last Sunday's defeat in Phoenix, before the game quickly turned to cheers as he and a fired up defense led the Redskins to a convincing 34-3 victory over the Denver Broncos. Rypien passed for 225 yards and a touchdown, ran for two more, and regained the support - for one night at least - of the fans who showed little patience during his slow start this season, a four-game stretch in which he threw four touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Washington Redskins coach Richie Petitbon has a 1-2 record, a banged-up team, a demanding owner, and the biggest collection of spoiled fans this side of San Francisco. Mostly, though, he has all of the above - plus a team that is down in the dumps after Sunday's heartbreaking 34-31 defeat in Philadelphia. The bad news that comes from drawing a bye this week is the players have a week to agonize over coming up empty after a courageous effort. The good news is Petitbon has an extra week to sort through the rubble.